Every Morning — September 9, 2026: The Bluff That Worked
Sometimes the covenant survives even when the discernment didn't.
Key Scripture
Joshua 9:3–6, 14 (WEB)
"But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they also worked craftily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks on their donkeys, and wine skins, old and torn and mended, and old and patched shoes on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy… The men sampled their provisions, and didn't ask counsel from Yahweh's mouth."
Devotional
There was a group of people so terrified of losing a war they hadn't even started fighting yet, that they came up with one of the most elaborate cosplay operations in the Old Testament.
The Gibeonites heard what happened to Jericho and Ai — cities leveled — and decided the smartest move wasn't to fight Israel. It was to trick them into a peace treaty. So they got creative. Moldy bread. Cracked wine skins. Patched-up shoes. Worn-out clothes. They basically showed up dressed like they'd been walking for a month, when really they lived just down the road.
And it worked. Completely.
Joshua and Israel's leaders looked at the "evidence," made their own judgment call, and signed a treaty — all without asking God a single question about it. Verse fourteen says it plainly: they sampled the bread, but they didn't consult Yahweh.
That line should make you wince a little. Not because moldy bread is dramatic, but because it's such a normal mistake. We do this constantly — we look at the evidence in front of us, feel confident we've got it figured out, and skip the step where we actually ask God what He thinks.
You'd think this story ends in disaster. It doesn't, not exactly. When Israel discovers the trick three days later, they're furious — but they keep the treaty anyway, because they'd made an oath in God's name. "We have sworn to them by Yahweh, the God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them" (Joshua 9:19). Their word, once given before God, still mattered, even though it was given carelessly.
Here's what I find strangely comforting about that: God didn't erase the consequences of Israel's bad discernment, but He also didn't let the whole thing collapse into chaos. The Gibeonites ended up serving in the tabernacle, woven into Israel's ongoing story instead of destroyed by it (Joshua 9:27).
Maybe you've made an agreement, a commitment, or a decision you didn't fully pray through. Maybe someone presented you with "evidence" — dressed up, convincing, well-rehearsed — and you didn't ask God about it before you said yes. That's a real, common way to end up somewhere you didn't plan for.
This story isn't permission to skip discernment. If anything, it's the opposite — a reminder that consulting God isn't a formality, it's protection. "Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don't lean on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5).
But if you're currently living with the fallout of a decision you rushed, take heart. God is still able to work faithfully inside the deal you already made, even the one you wish you'd prayed about first.
Prayer
Lord, forgive me for the times I've decided things without asking You first. Where I'm currently living with a decision I rushed into, meet me there with Your wisdom and Your faithfulness. Teach me to consult You before I sign onto anything else. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Dig Deeper
Joshua 9:1–27
Proverbs 3:5–6
James 1:5
Psalm 25:4–5
Reading Plan
Today's Reading
Joshua 9
Proverbs 3
Psalm 25
Today's Thought
God's covenant can survive our rushed decisions — but asking Him first will always spare you the moldy bread.
From Every Morning — September 2026 by Margaret Nwakaego Usio.